Environment & Sustainability

Sound businesses need to be Environmentally sound

We are dedicated to finding the most environmentally-friendly ways to produce our floors. We call it Beauty with a Conscience.

— Kährs philosophy

ENVIRONMENTAL PIONEERS

Ever since the start in 1857, Kährs has been an environmental pioneer. Over the years, we have learnt to capture the beauty and expression of wood, combining good looks with cutting-edge floor technology to produce floors that are durable, stable and easy to install.

Kährs' long-term dedication to the environment has been internationally acknowledged. In 1993, we were the first wood floor manufacturer in the world to obtain ISO 9001 certification, and in 1997 we also achieved ISO 14001 certification.

FSC-Fairtrade Timber and Kährs

In 2011 Kährs is the first company in the world to support and purchase dual-labelled material from Chile that meets both FSC and Fairtrade certification standards.

Here are some of the reasons why:

Kährs wood floors are available in over ten wood species. This makes it easy to find an eco-friendly Kährs floor, regardless of personal taste and interior design preferences.

We put our hearts into the crafting of every wood floor, aiming for the highest quality in terms of both design and performance, for you and for generations to come.

We only make wood floors – and wood is a renewable flooring material (a raw material that can be replaced within years).

We only work with suppliers holding an FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) or PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification) certificate, or with those who are able to demonstrate that they operate environmentally-aware timber procurement.

We invented the modern wood floor in 1941. This multi-layer wood floor construction means that the raw material is used in the most effective way. This method proved instant popular and is now used in wood floor manufacturing worldwide.

In 1984, we became the first flooring manufacturer in the world to have an entirely solvent-free production process.

Kährs floors are installed using the Woodloc® method, producing tight, secure joints without the use of glue.

We only use the most environmental-friendly stains and finishes.

The surfaces of our floors are easy to clean and maintain, without the use of strong chemicals.

Sustainability

Nothing goes to waste. We are dedicated to optimizing the use of raw material, in order to minimise waste and emissions to the environment. By pre-cutting the logs that we ship to our factory, we achieve more efficient packaging and use of space – keeping transportation to a minimum and reducing waste material.

The parts of the logs that can’t be used in the production of wood floors are converted to biofuel. Some is used to produce energy to heat the Kährs factory. The rest is sold to a local energy company and used to heat the whole neighbourhood. We are, in fact, a major producer of energy – whilst we also strive to reduce the energy that we use. Even the ash from the heating plant is re-used for fertilizing purposes in local forestry operations. During the last few years, we have managed to reduce our use of raw material by some 25%, through our dedicated environmental work.

We use the wood from next door

More than 88% of the raw material we use grows less than 200 km from our factory in Sweden. There are several environmental advantages of using locally-produced raw material. An obvious one is a reduction in transport. Another is being able to thoroughly check forestry methods and timber sources.